The Medicine of Positive Thinking

A recent study was conducted to determine whether or not spirituality had an affect on the health of cancer patients. The results were questionable due to variables that cannot be properly measured or excluded. However, it was shown that those who claimed belief in the spiritual often reported more positively when it came to physical, mental, and social health.

Spirituality and positivity have gone hand-in-hand many times over, especially when it comes to a person’s health. Quality of life – even when your body has turned against you – can be improved simply through thinking and believing the best. A person who is willing to see and persevere towards better health is often going to achieve better results than the person who cannot see past all the ways in which they struggle. Your outlook can have an incredible affect on your physicality.

Of course, when it comes to mental well being, dwelling on the positive instead of being mired down by despondency can make all the difference. Control over your thoughts may be difficult at first, but choosing to think about ways to push forward and thinking creatively about obstacles gets easier with practice. Moods often follow thoughts, and keeping your thoughts positive will have an outward effect.

Also, social health can be rather obviously affected by your choice of positivity or negativity. The majority of people respond well – or even enthusiastically – to those who exude positivity. It is easier to support a person who is thinking and acting on hope, rather than negativity. And yet, the more people you have supporting you, the easier it will be to pull yourself out of those moments of pain, fear, and anger.

Is positive thinking something that can be quantified? Not really, and the results are not always as impactful as we might hope. However, having something to believe in and a reason to push forward and fight on can be some of the best medicine. Choose to think positively today and see how your tomorrow can change.